Leaving for Holland

David:
We're on our way to Holland. You can see a general outline of where we're going to be for the next few days here:
http://tinyurl.com/yr2scm




Holland and Belgium should be great places to start cycling, as the are pretty flat, and very comfortble for cycling.

We've been staying in a very pleasant part of London called Dulwich. There is a picture at left. It is a nice place, with easy access to the Underground, and some good local shopping and restaurants.

In the past few days, we've visited the Camden Market, Westminister Abbey, the Parliament Buildings, Downing Street and most of the other tourist attractions. The effects of the terror attacks two years ago are quite evident in the number of police (and the fearsomeness of their weapons). A funny irony is that there are many symbolic guards (the beefeaters and others) scattered around; but their presence seems a little bizarre when there are a lot more guards armed with flak jackets and submachine guns.

Thankfully, access to the attractions hasn't been restricted too much. Although I was stunned to see a notice indicating that all payphone conversations were being monitored in a telephone booth off of Trafalgar Square. I guess the Brits now know that my grandmother is off to Moose Lake for a few days and that I was hoping the rain cleared up but otherwise having a good time. Maybe I should have mentioned that they all drive on the wrong side of the road.


The only problems we've run into so far is that it is very tough to take bikes on long-distance high speed trains. We will have to take shorter, regional trains from place to place - bikes are no problem on these.